Path planning in the presence of ambushes

Georgia Institute of Technology

​Abstract: Path planning has now reached a remarkable level of maturity, thanks to concurrent progress in computer power and algorithms. The presence of adversarial elements, however, is rarely acknowledged and, if it is, often leads to differential gaming problems whose solution is still considered to be very hard to obtain, even on relatively simple academic cases. We are concerned with the problem of planning paths in an asymmetric environment, where mobile elements face an ubiquitous, but non-mobile, adversary. Posing the game as a traditional matrix game, we study the properties of the solutions to the game. First, we establish them as the solutions to a traditional matrix game. Second, we give a geometrical interpretation to these solutions, allowing us to capture the game's fundamental structure, which extend the results initially obtained by Ruckle. We conclude with some variations and illustrations of the problem to practical examples, and some new applications to air transportation.

Bio: Eric Feron is Dutton-Ducoffe Professor of Aerospace Software Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, and Consulting Professor at Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile. Prior to that, Eric Feron was a professor at MIT’s department of Aeronautics and Astronautics for 12 years. He holds his BS, MS and PhD degrees from Ecole Polytechnique, France, Ecole Normale Supérieure, France and Stanford University, USA. Eric Feron’s interests are to use fundamental concepts of control systems, optimization and computer science to address important problems in aerospace and transportation engineering, including: Air transportation, aerobatic control of unmanned aerial vehicles, aerospace software system certification, and human-machine interaction. Eric Feron has published two books and several research papers; He has been recognized for his work on autonomous aerobatic helicopter flight, human drowsiness and its impact on driver safety, and airport departure metering for “green” operations. Eric Feron is a private aircraft pilot and a former officer in the French Navy.

The beginning and end dates for each internship will be agreed upon between the Faculty and the Intern. Visa processing time will be a determining factor in actual start date. Minimum period is three months. Maximum period is six months.